FEEDING AREAS OF ARCTIC TERNS (Sterna paradisaea) AND COMMON TERNS (Sterna

• Main Authors: Amie L. Black, Antony W. Diamond
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arctic; Manan; Sterna paradisaea; Seal Island
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.490.8357; http://docs.informatics.management.dal.ca/gsdl/collect/bofep1/pdf/WF/BOFEP6-2004-101.pdf

Machias Seal Island (MSI) is a 9.5 ha, treeless island located at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy, 20 km south of Grand Manan. It is designated a Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) Migratory Bird Sanctuary and managed by CWS because it is the breeding grounds of a large number of seabirds, including both arctic and common terns. The Atlantic Cooperative Wildlife Research Network (ACWERN) has been conducting long-term studies on MSI since 1995. One research goal is to assess the ecological differences between Arctic and Common Terns. As a part of this project, we are radio tracking Arctic and Common Terns to determine where they feed around MSI. Preliminary data sug-gests that common terns feed both inshore and far offshore, whereas arctic terns seem to feed solely offshore. The next step is to relate feeding areas to characteristics of the marine environment, and to investigate whether Arctic and Common Terns which nest together also forage together.